How about this Boston Bruins team?
Who would have thought to start the season that they would be in first place in the Atlantic late in March?
Not this writer.
Thursday nights win over the Tampa Bay Lightening showcased a team that isn’t willing to quit or give-up no matter the circumstances which is certainly a departure of no-shows which were the norm only a few seasons ago.
This season Boston has shown an immense level of grit and determination that makes Thursday’s win over Tampa part of the norm.
“I think it was typical. We were competitive, very competitive. Lot of urgency in the first period, got ourselves into a bit of trouble in the second, so we lost some of that. That’s where they picked it up. I don’t know if that describes it accurately, but I just thought we were a determined group, in the third, to play the right way. I don’t think we gave up much five on five. That’s the way it played out.- Bruce Cassidy
Taking down Tampa was huge for Boston in the standings column with the B’s passing the Lightening and grabbing the top spot in the division.
Well, we had our own goals internally. We knew we had a good hockey club the way we finished last year, if we got healthy. We’re adding some young guys; there’s uncertainty there. Would we have said we’d be the number one seed? No, probably not, but we certainly thought we were playoff-caliber team, and where we went from there throughout the year would depend on the growth of some of these younger players. The healthier team, we were able to survive that. What’s it mean now? It’s a nice honor to be in first place, but it could change Saturday. For us, I think we haven’t talked about the standings much this year, and we won’t going forward. When the 82 games are over, we’ll see where we are, who we got, and we’ll go from there. And, I’m not trying to be disrespectful to that either, because it is an accomplishment, but we still have games to go, so we’ll enjoy it for a day or however long we’re there, and hopefully longer.-Cassidy
What was most impressive in their win over Tampa was the willingness to put one own body on the line for the betterment of the team. Tuukka Rask was one prime example of that. Rask has had sort of a tough season overall being bounced in and out of the lineup but seeing some fire out of the netminder lighted a fire under Boston.
Well, I do. I do. It’s not something you want every night because I don’t – it doesn’t happen every night, for obvious reasons, but yeah you want to see some fire, some urgency. He’s defending his territory without being reckless, I didn’t think. He just did what he had to do in that situation, calmed down and played.-Cassidy
As for why Rask threw a few punches, well let us let him describe that one.
In the first period someone fell on my knee there, there was no penalty called – there was a penalty called actually – and that one it felt like to me that I don’t think our own D’s were jumping on me, I felt like they were pushing or something so I just had to let them know I was there because it happened twice. So I jumped in there and threw a couple punches and that was it.- Rask
Another player who laid it all on the line against Tampa was Noel Acciari who is no stranger to putting the team before himself.
He does it every night. Every night. Every game I’ve coached this kid, probably from Providence on. I mean, I’ve seen him block a shot with his face, a one-timer, and it broke his jaw. I think it was in Lehigh Valley. It’s the way he plays, and it wasn’t like he threw it in front of him, but he put himself in harm’s way. It’s what Noel does, and it’s why his teammates love him. -Cassidy
As for the playoffs, Boston is close to ready but needs to iron a few more things out before the Stanley Cup Playoffs begin.
I feel we’re very close, simply because of the road trips we just had. I think – I’ll go the recent past – the Winnipeg was a hard game. Two good teams going at it, not a lot of history of – we talked about that this morning – a rivalry, but it was a good hockey game. Dallas was hard; St. Louis, they played us hard, and I think there’s a lot of nights our guys say, bring it on. We’re comfortable in those games. Even without some of our guys, like Backes wasn’t on that trip, and Zee, and heavier guys. But, we’re okay with it. I think that’s what makes us good is we can – we saw it here at home in that stretch. We scored goals to win games, and now we’re kind of – it’s the game in front of you. I think we’re comfortable playing it. It bodes well. Again, I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but I like the way the team responds in all types of games.-Cassidy
The regular season for the Boston Bruins ends on April 8th.
With playoff hockey on the horizon, plenty of crazy things can and will happen. But what isn’t crazy is the Boston Bruins winning the Stanley’s Cup.
